IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/rwinxx/v39y2014i5p671-685.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The political economy of metering agricultural tube wells in West Bengal, India

Author

Listed:
  • Aditi Mukherji
  • Arijit Das

Abstract

Unmetered electricity supply to agriculture has given rise to a unique and invidious water-energy-food nexus in India. Metering of agricultural consumers has been suggested as a way to break the nexus, but most states have not been able to meter farmers due to their opposition . The only exception is the state of West Bengal. Using primary data from a household survey conducted in 2010 when the metering process was still underway, this paper argues that farmers' support for metering in West Bengal can be explained in terms of the economics of groundwater use and politics surrounding agriculture and groundwater in the state.

Suggested Citation

  • Aditi Mukherji & Arijit Das, 2014. "The political economy of metering agricultural tube wells in West Bengal, India," Water International, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(5), pages 671-685, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:rwinxx:v:39:y:2014:i:5:p:671-685
    DOI: 10.1080/02508060.2014.955408
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/02508060.2014.955408
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/02508060.2014.955408?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. International Water Management Institute, IWMI-TATA Water Policy Program, 2003. "The energy-irrigation nexus," IWMI Water Policy Briefings 113065, International Water Management Institute.
    2. Shah, Tushaar & Scott, C. & Kishore, A. & Sharma, A., 2003. "Energy-irrigation nexus in South Asia: Improving groundwater conservation and power sector viability," IWMI Research Reports H033885, International Water Management Institute.
    3. Birner, Regina & Gupta, Surupa & Sharma, Neeru, 2011. "The political economy of agricultural policy reform in India: Fertilizers and electricity for irrigation," Research reports reginabirner, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    4. International Water Management Institute, IWMI-TATA Water Policy Program, 2003. "The energy-irrigation nexus," IWMI Water Policy Briefings H034112, International Water Management Institute.
    5. Lucio Monari, 2002. "Power Subsidies : A Reality Check on Subsidizing Power for Irrigation in India," World Bank Publications - Reports 11350, The World Bank Group.
    6. John Briscoe & R.P.S. Malik, 2006. "India's Water Economy : Bracing for a Turbulent Future," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 7238, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ahmad Hamidov & Katharina Helming, 2020. "Sustainability Considerations in Water–Energy–Food Nexus Research in Irrigated Agriculture," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-20, August.
    2. Dennis Wichelns, 2015. "Water productivity and water footprints are not helpful in determining optimal water allocations or efficient management strategies," Water International, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(7), pages 1059-1070, November.
    3. Sidhu, Balsher Singh & Kandlikar, Milind & Ramankutty, Navin, 2020. "Power tariffs for groundwater irrigation in India: A comparative analysis of the environmental, equity, and economic tradeoffs," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shah, Tushaar & Verma, Shilp, 2008. "Real-time co-management of electricity and groundwater: an assessment of Gujarat’s pioneering Jyotirgram Scheme," IWMI Conference Proceedings 235174, International Water Management Institute.
    2. Shaheen, F.A. & Shiyani, R.L., 2006. "Energy Costs and Groundwater Withdrawals: Results from an Optimal Control Model for North Gujarat," Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, vol. 62(1), pages 1-16.
    3. Mukherji, Aditi, 2007. "The energy-irrigation nexus and its impact on groundwater markets in eastern Indo-Gangetic basin: Evidence from West Bengal, India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(12), pages 6413-6430, December.
    4. Verma, Shilp & Phansalkar, Sanjiv, 2009. "India\u2019s water future 2050: potential deviations from \u2018business-as-usual\u2019," IWMI Books, Reports H042031, International Water Management Institute.
    5. Dudhat, B. L. & Shiyani, R. L., 2008. "Equity, comparative feasibility and economic viability of groundwater investment in Saurashtra region," Conference Papers h042914, International Water Management Institute.
    6. Siwa Msangi & Sarah Ann Cline, 2016. "Improving Groundwater Management for Indian Agriculture: Assessing Tradeoffs Across Policy Instruments," Water Economics and Policy (WEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 2(03), pages 1-33, September.
    7. Singh, S. P., 2008. "Policy interplay and trade offs: some issues for groundwater policy in India," Conference Papers h042927, International Water Management Institute.
    8. Nawaz AHMAD, 2011. "Impact of Institutional Credit on Agricultural Output: A Case Study of Pakistan," Theoretical and Applied Economics, Asociatia Generala a Economistilor din Romania - AGER, vol. 0(10(563)), pages 99-120, October.
    9. Sidhu, Balsher Singh & Kandlikar, Milind & Ramankutty, Navin, 2020. "Power tariffs for groundwater irrigation in India: A comparative analysis of the environmental, equity, and economic tradeoffs," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    10. Héctor Garduño & Saleem Romani & Buba Sengupta & Albert Tuinhof & Richard Davis, 2011. "India Groundwater Governance Case Study," World Bank Publications - Reports 17242, The World Bank Group.
    11. Rohith, G.V. & Rashmi, K.S. & Hamsa, K.R. & Lekshmi, U. Divya & Rajeshwari, D. & Manjunatha, A.V. & Rashmi, N. & Olekar, Jagannath, 2015. "Incorporating Cost of Irrigation Water in the Currently Underestimated Cost of Cultivation: An Empirical Treatise," Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, vol. 70(3), pages 1-14.
    12. M. Dinesh Kumar & Christopher A. Scott & O.P. Singh, 2013. "Can India raise agricultural productivity while reducing groundwater and energy use?," International Journal of Water Resources Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(4), pages 557-573, December.
    13. Reena Badiani-Magnusson & Katrina Jessoe, 2018. "Electricity Prices, Groundwater, and Agriculture: The Environmental and Agricultural Impacts of Electricity Subsidies in India," NBER Chapters, in: Agricultural Productivity and Producer Behavior, pages 157-183, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Srivastava, S.K. & Srivastava, R.C. & Sethi, R.R. & Kumar, A. & Nayak, A.K., 2014. "Accelerating Groundwater and Energy Use for Agricultural Growth in Odisha: Technological and Policy Issues," Agricultural Economics Research Review, Agricultural Economics Research Association (India), vol. 27(2).
    15. Disha Gupta, 2023. "Free power, irrigation, and groundwater depletion: Impact of farm electricity policy of Punjab, India," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 54(4), pages 515-541, July.
    16. Animesh K. Gain & Carlo Giupponi & David Benson, 2015. "The water-energy-food (WEF) security nexus: the policy perspective of Bangladesh," Water International, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(5-6), pages 895-910, September.
    17. Paul L. G. Vlek & Asia Khamzina & Hossein Azadi & Anik Bhaduri & Luna Bharati & Ademola Braimoh & Christopher Martius & Terry Sunderland & Fatemeh Taheri, 2017. "Trade-Offs in Multi-Purpose Land Use under Land Degradation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-19, November.
    18. Stergios Athanassoglou & Glenn Sheriff & Tobias Siegfried & Woonghee Huh, 2012. "Optimal Mechanisms for Heterogeneous Multi-Cell Aquifers," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 52(2), pages 265-291, June.
    19. Mockshell, Jonathan & Birner, Regina, 2021. "Agricultural Policy Processes: Influential Actors, Policy Networks and Competing Narratives," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315323, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    20. Mukherji, A. & Das, B. & Majumdar, N. & Nayak, N.C. & Sethi, R.R. & Sharma, B.R., 2009. "Metering of agricultural power supply in West Bengal, India: Who gains and who loses?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(12), pages 5530-5539, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:rwinxx:v:39:y:2014:i:5:p:671-685. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/rwin20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.